Page 71 of Drown in You

“I’m not interested in anybody,” Sienna squeaks, and heat crawls up the back of my neck. The hell she isn’t. “Or looking for a relationship right now.”

“What about you, Luke?” Ma asks.

I flash a cocky grin. I’m going to have fun with this. “There’s a girl. She seems pretty into me.”

Ma gasps, eyes lighting up while Sienna goes rigid beside me. I don’t have to read her mind to know exactly what she’s thinking. You better not.

“Who is it?” Ma beams at the same time Mike asks, “What’s she like?”

I fix my grin on my stepsister. “She’s Sienna’s friend.”

Her eyes narrow.

“Well, tell me about her, honey! I want to hear everything about this girl.”

“She’s gorgeous.” If looks could kill, Sienna would be burning me alive. “Brown hair, green eyes?—”

She pinches my thigh in warning. Did she really think I was going to sit here and make up some story about how hot her best friend is when I only have eyes for her?

“She can be pretty ruthless.” I jerk my leg away from her. “But she’s a badass too. She’s been through a lot of shit, but she’s still somehow really sweet. Cares about people. Even when they don’t deserve it.”

Mike points his fork at me. “Sounds like a keeper.”

Ma grabs a slice of pie and drops it onto her plate. “She sounds wonderful, honey. If things get serious, I want to meet her.”

Before I can tell her she already has, Sienna jumps up from her seat, thanking Ma for the meal and announcing she’s grabbing a shower before heading to bed.

Part of me aches to follow and join her in that shower, but I’ve got to tell Ma what I discovered about her new husband first. Once she learns the truth about the man she married, she can get an annulment, and Sienna and I won’t have to sneak around anymore. We can fuck each other’s brains out and it won’t matter who knows.

As soon as Sienna’s out of the room, Mike scoops up our empty plates and heads for the kitchen to dump them in the dishwasher. “I’m going to grab my wallet!”

“Grab my purse too, please!” Ma calls.

“Where are you two going?”

“We have a double date with some friends.”

I suppress my grin. Sienna and I will have the house all to ourselves. “Before you go, I need to talk to you about something.”

A crease forms between my mother’s brows. “Is something wrong?”

“I dug up some stuff on Mike while you were away.”

Her eyes spring open. “Luke! Why would you?—”

“He’s a gambler, Ma. Before you got married, he had a lot of debt. A lot. I think he stole money from you to clear it. He’s after your money. You can still get an annulment without losing half your shit.”

Instead of gasping in horror or jumping to Mike’s defense, Ma does the last thing I expect—she bursts into a fit of giggles.

She squeezes my arm and tries to take a sip of her water, but she sputters into her glass, unable to stop laughing.

“I don’t see what’s funny about any of this.”

“Oh, honey. I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I already know about all that.”

“You knew?”

More giggles. “Honey, we reunited at my therapist’s office. I told you that.”

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